Because It's Not Easy Being Weasley
by barelythere7
Summary: Twelve drabbles cataloging a love lost in each Next-Gen Weasley's life, from their point of view. A tad angsty, but not really. Up, as of now: Victoire.
1. Albus

**Disclaimer: Nothingio is mineio.**

Albus – Because Sometimes the Noble Thing Is the One You Can't Bear to Think About

He didn't have a choice. If he did, this wouldn't be a problem. If he did, he'd have marched into that Muggle bookstore last week, gone straight up to the counter, and told the girl that worked there that he loved her. Because he did, wholly and unconditionally. He'd never really felt it before, but the feeling was wonderful. There was a moment where you just _knew_, regardless of how experienced you were at falling in love. He'd heard about it a hundred times from Rose, but he'd never believed it. At least, until now.

Of course, it was a fantastic feeling, but a bloody nuisance as well. And if it hadn't completely overtaken his mind, Albus would've thought enough to know when to stay away. Under normal circumstances, he was usually quite smart. And now the loss of a functional mind had led him into an incredible mess.

He'd only wanted to say three words to her. Four, maybe, if he added her name onto the end. But those words carried so much weight with them. Not because they were hard to say or anything (they weren't – he'd have yelled it to her the first day they met if his brain hadn't, in a bout of sanity, warned him not to), but because if he told her he loved her, sooner or later he'd have to explain about the wizarding world. The longer he took to tell her, the longer she'd take to forgive him for keeping it from her. So it had to be all or nothing – if he told her one, he'd have to tell her the other. And if he told her at all, regardless of when, the danger that knowing would place her in was insurmountable. And Albus would never forgive himself if it were he that placed her in danger.

So he had kept his mouth shut. He'd go to the bookstore once every Saturday, always sitting in the same armchair in the corner. And she'd always find him there while she was shelving books, so they'd talk, but it'd only ever be friendly discussions of authors and works; Albus would always politely excuse himself after a while.

He was from a brave and noble family, a family of Gryffindors. The brave, noble, Gryffindoric thing to do was to leave her alone, to let her get married to a nice Muggle man and have lots of non-magical babies.

He wanted, more than anything, to be selfish. But he wasn't.

**A/N. I suppose the premise of this collection is really quite simple, and as it's stated in the summary I won't bother you by repeating it. :) I'll update every week or sooner - probably sooner. Cheers, and thanks for reading! Next up: Lucy.**


	2. Lucy

**Disclaimer: Let's see… Er, nope – still not mine.**

Lucy – Because Hating Someone Is So Much Simpler Than Loving Them

At first she'd never given him a second glance only because she'd always figured that someone with such a big ego and so much pride wasn't in need of it. It might have been because he incited little James to have a huge ego, or maybe because he acted like he had the world wrapped around his pinky finger, but whatever it was, it had cause her dislike of Lorcan to fester into pure hatred.

Lucy hadn't set out to hate him or anything – she was extremely level-headed. She'd given him a chance, in the beginning. She had found him endearing when they were little, always a gentleman. As soon as they had hit Hogwarts, though, he'd strutted up and down the halls, boasting of everything from how adept he was at Charms to his Quidditch skills. She'd always turned a blind eye to it, wanting to believe that he was faking it for some reason or other, but it was there and she was a fool to wish it would disappear.

She guessed the reason it'd been so easy to hate him was because she was on her way to falling for him. It wasn't a secret that he didn't exactly enjoy her company either, so if she had let herself fall for him, she'd've spent her entire Hogwarts career pining after someone who despised her. She couldn't do that to herself – Hogwarts was supposed to be the best seven years of her life.

So she hated him. After all, loving meant pain and devastation. Hating meant a bit of annoyance. And maybe some regret.

The choice was clear. Wasn't it?

**Next Up: Fred.**


	3. Fred

**Disclaimer: Narg. That is what I say to that.**

Fred – Because Laughter is the Best Medicine

He'd never met anyone like her before – not ever, and he had met a lot of people in his life. It might have been that she introduced herself as the Loch Ness Monster. It might have been that she had dark red hair but wasn't a Weasley – a feat that seemed quite impossible these days. It might have been the way she threw back her head and laughed. Whatever it was, the moment Fred saw her he was captivated.

The thing that interested him the most about Nessie was her ease with life. She acted as if she'd been living for a hundred years instead of sixteen. She knew when to be serious and when to crack a joke. She knew exactly what to say, and to whom, and when. She knew the world like the back of her hand, even though she'd barely stepped out of Devon. She was also an orphan, unlike he, who had almost eleven siblings and seven or so sets of parents.

They'd been the ultimate pranksters during their regime at Hogwarts thus far. After setting up a prank they'd hide and wait behind a tapestry or in a broom closet to see it take effect. During the wait Nessie would describe different parts of the world to him – the places she would go, the things she'd do. And he'd smile and nod but inside he'd know that his highest aspiration had been and always would be to take over Weasley's Wizard Wheezes from his father as soon as he left school. He would not weigh down her free spirit by filling her mind with ideas of love – she didn't deserve that. She was perfect, he was commonplace, but this was not a love story and there was no happy ending.

So the victim would walk by and their prank would be monumentally successful and Nessie would laugh and laugh and laugh and he would laugh with her, because after love laughter is the best medicine for a broken heart.

**A tad bit cheesy. Sorry 'bout that. And next is….. (drumroll, please)… Rose!D**


	4. Rose

**Disclaimer: Haven't we been through this?**

Rose – Because Love Conquers All. Except For Family.

Something that had been festering for so many years wasn't going to change in an instant, she knew that. It'd taken a couple years for her to come to terms with it, but she had and that was the point. Understanding it, however, didn't mean she could bear it.

Rose had watched Scorpius plenty of times – even after they'd fallen in love and had no secrets from each other he was still the one person that constantly intrigued her. She watched his face while she and Al read out their letters from home as the three of them sat at the Slytherin table. He laughed along with them at the antics the family'd gotten up to in their absence, but he wouldn't meet Rose's eyes and she knew that he envied her family, that he had since the day they'd met on the Hogwarts Express five years ago.

She had only ever wanted one thing in her life as fervently as she had Scorpius, that being his happiness. He'd wanted more than anything to be a part of her family, at the least meet them, and in turn she'd wanted to grant him that.

But Rose couldn't. He'd never understood – they'd gotten into enough arguments about it. He told her it shouldn't matter what her family thought – it couldn't change how they felt about each other. She'd known better, though – or at least she thought – her father's anger would precede his mind, and he'd forbid them seeing each other. Her mother would be too shocked to talk sense into Ron, and by the time she did it'd be no use – the rest of the family would've figured it out. So she and Scorpius would return to their sneaking around, but soon her family's hostility would take a toll on both of them, and they'd take it out on each other. So Rose kept him far away from her family.

It was difficult, she thought, hurting the one you loved in order to save them from more pain. Twisted, too. But she couldn't let go of the one thing she was almost positive would go wrong and only cross her fingers and hope for the best; that was ridiculous.

Could she?

**Aaaaaand next is… Roxanne!**


	5. Roxanne

**Disclaimer: Consider it disclaimed.**

Roxanne – Because This Was Definite

It didn't matter that she had feelings for him, they had been best friends first and best friends took priority. They had shared a sort of bond ever since they were little – each was the person around whom the other was most comfortable. She knew him better than he knew himself, and he was a constant giver of relationship advice to her. But that was before she realized she loved him and stopped dating altogether.

It wasn't loving Lysander that was the problem, not really. It was difficult, but it didn't cause her pain, and she'd learned how to deal with it. The problem existed only if she told him she loved him. If he didn't feel the same, from that point on everything'd be awkward. Even if he did, it could end badly and leave them disconnected.

It was quite a cliché Roxanne had gotten herself into. She hated it, but it was oddly comforting. She could love someone wholeheartedly from a distance, and feel the good parts of love but never, ever have to worry about rejection. And she'd never lose him. Not really, at least.

She promised herself she'd never tell him. It could only lead to madness. It was unclear how they'd end up anyway.

But where they were right now, this was definite.

**Eesh, sorry about the super shortness. In any case, James is up.**


	6. James

**Disclaimer: Let's be serious; if Harry Potter was mine I'd have absolutely no idea what to do with it. So consider yourself lucky that I don't own it. And stop pestering me about disclaiming it. :)**

James – Because He Knew They'd End Up Together

He aggravated her to no end. He knew it, too, and he figured that only made it worse. The very first moment he saw her, sitting across from him at the Gryffindor table during the Welcoming Feast first year, he told her he loved her. She had recovered quite quickly, he'd give her that, and with a smile had apologized and told him, with incredible poise for a first year, that there was no way she'd ever love him.

Over the years, as he repeated his sentiment, she began to leave out the apology, but repeated the rest as nicely as ever. He marveled at how Holly could make something so upsetting sound so harmless; that was the magic of her. But a rejection was still a rejection, however polite.

Everyone thought he persisted because he wanted to prove something. He did, but not what they thought – he wasn't doing it to prove that he could get any girl, even the most unwilling, to fall for him. That was sick and masochistic. No, he did it because he did love her, so powerfully that he could barely deal with it even when he did confess his love to her every day. And he knew, in a part so deep inside him it was terrifying, that she loved him too. So he'd tell her every day until she realized it on her own, and when she did he'd have told her hundreds of times already that he felt the same. It eliminated any uneasiness she might have had about the whole thing, and he would have proved that no matter how many times James Potter was rejected, he would always, always follow through. _Especially_ when it came to Holly.

So he stayed close to her, because close was close, so be it if she couldn't stand him.

**Poor James. Dom is next up. :)**


	7. Dominique

**Disclaimer.**

Dominique – Because Old Habits Are Difficult to Break

She was the untouchable one, yet the inviting one. She captivated everyone within a hundred feet of herself with her appearance and her words that flowed slowly like honey. Her presence in itself called for attention, but she ordered no one around. She could be kind but she could be cold… She was a contradiction within herself.

For six years she had been in a routine, dating rarely and, ultimately, briefly. She was bright and strong, single but happy. She was extremely focused, studying hard, although not at the expense of her social activities – she was surrounded by friends.

Victoire had often joked with her, complaining that she wished she had found such balance while she was at school. And it was true, Dominique did have incredible balance. So it bothered her immensely when Graham Booth had come into her life. It annoyed her that the time she had spent thinking about things that had happened with her friends or about the latest chapter in her Charms textbook was now spent lingering on his face, or on what joke he'd made in class that day.

She wasn't in control, and it made her feel weak. It had made her mind incredibly unbalanced, and she was furious with him for it. Ergo, she avoided him like the plague and refused to think about him.

It wasn't her fault, not really. She'd never known love before.

**Stay tuned for Molly-olly-oxen free. :P**


	8. Molly

**Dis = Not. Claimer = Mine. Geddit? Not. Mine.**

Molly – Because Sometimes It's Too Good to Be True

She was hiding. Hiding from Brigham Jordan, from her cousins, from the world. She wasn't really hiding, though, as it was sort of in plain sight – she figured most people would see a redhead by the lake and not think anything was wrong. And if something was wrong, they'd figured that a stampede of Weasleys would be arriving shortly to take care of the matter.

It was the first time in ages that Molly had set out to hide, with the full intention of not being found, and thus far it had been working beautifully. Under normal circumstances she was lost amongst the redheads – she was not fiery like Lily, nor beautiful like Louis, nor intriguing like Rose. Just quiet, and what good had that done her?

Well, quite some good, actually. It'd caught Brigham Jordan's attention. And he'd told her it was always what he'd liked the most about her. He'd said that while her cousins were wild and loud and somewhat all over the place, she'd always been sitting calmly at a table, reading or watching their latest antics. That ever since the first day he witnessed that he'd wanted to talk to her. It was quite a lovely speech, actually. Pity that she had to run off halfway through it.

It was just that it'd been such a shock. All her life she'd spent trodding on the robes of her great family, and suddenly Brigham Jordan, always-laughing, friendly, brilliant, Quidditch-playing Brigham Jordan, had noticed her. And he'd given her a speech on every aspect of her that he was in love with.

So she'd run away. Why? Because she was overwhelmed, she'd never been in the spotlight before and the emotions he'd tried to convey to her were overpowering. She'd never been noticed before, maybe if she'd been a bit more poised like Victoire or Dom, or brilliant like Rose or a risk-taker like Lily she'd've been able to handle it.

But she was only Molly Weasley the second, the quite redhead who liked to cook.

And there was no way cooking could help her with love.

**Gah. :( Hugo next.**


	9. Hugo

**Disclaimer: Nope.**

Hugo – Because She Was His Oasis and She Didn't Even Know Him

It was a wonderful feeling, having someone that made you forget every single thing you worried about. It didn't matter that they'd never spoken. Hugo could look at her, watch her studying or laughing with friends, and immediately be calm. It was a bit odd, but he didn't question it. And he didn't follow her around or lust over her or anything. It was just little things, like if he was stressed out about O.W.L.s or worried about a Quidditch-related injury a family member had suffered. He could look around for her mane of dark blonde hair, see her laughing with her friends, and be at peace.

Sometimes his eyes accidentally sought her out during meals or classes – he was always extremely relieved to see her at the Ravenclaw table, but he didn't know why it affected him at such a level.

There was no harm in it; it was just like going to a quite place to calm down and think. It helped him to watch her live such a normal, simple life.

She was his oasis. That was all there was to it.

**Super short; sorry. Next is Louis.**


	10. Louis

**Disclaimer: Officially disclaimed! :)**

Louis – Because She Was A Spitfire and He Was the Farthest Thing From It

Louis was the personification of a pond. Cool, calm, collected. He always had been, ever since he was a baby. Godric knows Fleur and Bill had been extremely relieved when their third child never cried – he simply lay in his crib, studying everyone. The Infant Wunderkind.

Lily had told him once that he attracted people to him like bugs to a light. When they were around him, as Lily said, they were infused with tranquility and a motivation to become as collected as he was. He seemed invincible, because he never overreacted, but when Lily'd told him this he'd confided in her that that was probably because he'd never felt anything worth overreaction.

He figured that Minnie Bell had been the exact opposite of himself as an infant. She wouldn't have complained, per say, but shrieked and cooed only to inform others of her presence. He knew because it was the same way she acted nowadays. She was loud and happy and hilarious and fierce – put simply, she was a spitfire. He felt like it had something to do with having a single mother, but she was a feminist to the umpteenth degree – to the point at which she'd sworn she didn't need men romantically. But that was what made her fierce and loyal and dependable – that she was independent.

And he was not going to take that away from her.

**I like Louis. :) Next is Victoire.**


	11. Victoire

**Disclaimer: Nah.**

Victoire – Because They'd Been Cursed With Terrible Timing

After one failed marriage, one successful divorce, several furious ex-boyfriends, a few _happy_ ex-boyfriends, and plenty of admirers, Victoire was all but ready to give up on love. She'd been through enough already, and didn't see the point in waiting around, wishing for something to happen simply because she was expected to. And she was exhilarated by the feeling of rebellion.

You know, this could work. She could focus on her career and family. She could be extremely successful, and never, ever have to worry about being upset. It made perfect sense. She couldn't even begin to fathom everyone else's conscious decision to love. What was the point? It always led to brokenness.

(She'd always been good at justifying things, but she was pretty sure she'd outdone herself here.)

She'd never given up on anything before – she figured she was overly due.

So she forced love out of her life. Right before Neville Longbottom entered it.

**Last is Lily. :)**


End file.
